Learning the Curve

My mother is fearless.  When we had a rabid raccoon in the barn, she caught up two bricks and headed off after it. This is where I like to say that I am the one who grabbed it by the tail and threw it when it went after the dog--all the while screaming like a girl for my mom. My dad pointed out to her that smashing  bricks into an animal carrying a blood borne disease wasn't perhaps the best idea.  We did find another way to deal with the raccoon and had the Wardens take it for testing.
When we ride the horses on our road, Mom is fine heading down the center of the road. I take a bit more after my dad. He was a worrier. He comes by it naturally from a family of worries, so I don't let it worry me that I also inherited the gene.
I am more of a defensive rider.  I prefer to ride on the edge so that if a car comes I don't have to worry getting out of the way in a hurry. Cars have a tendency to fly down the road, especially around the corners. A horse is much harder to maneuver than a dog when when faced with an idiot in a vehicle.  I do like to plan ahead for any complications in most situations. Although most situations never require my well thought out plans, I feel better for having them.
My mother doesn't worry about getting out of the way, she'll do it when it's an issue. Of course, her horse was twice the size of mine--a draft Thoroughbred cross.  Cars would think twice before getting that as a hood ornament. And this is the woman who once slid across a New Jersey highway on a horse: horse shoes and pavement don't always get along.  After that, our little roads couldn't possibly bother her.
My horse has never wanted to walk on the edge.  I used to think she was just being contrary. She can be like that. Then I started running.
And I learned about crowning the road. For anyone like me who never gave any thought to this, they engineer the roads so that water runs from the high point (the yellow line) to the low point (the ditches).  Obviously this makes it safer during storms for drivers.
It also makes it hard to run (or walk with four legs) on an even surface. Running on the edge can be like running with one leg an inch shorter than the other. Hard to get a good stride going and painful when done.
I have figured out over time where the flattest place to run is on my local roads. It sometimes involves crossing the road several times during the miles. And I let Charby walk where she will now. I feel much more sympathetic towards her.